Talks between the UK and EU over a post-Brexit trade agreement are “over”, Downing Street has said, according to the BBC.
No 10 argued there was “no point” in discussions continuing next week unless the EU was prepared to discuss the detailed legal text of a partnership.
UK chief negotiator Lord Frost said he had told EU counterpart Michel Barnier there was now no “basis” for planned talks on Monday.
Number 10 said the two sides had agreed to talk again next week – by phone.
Earlier, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tweeted that the Brussels negotiating team would go to London after the weekend to “intensify” discussions.
The prime minister had set this week’s EU summit as the deadline for the two sides to agree a deal.
But there are still major disagreements over fishing rights and state help for businesses.
And the UK government hardened up its message to the EU over the course of Friday.
In the morning, Boris Johnson said the country had to “get ready” to trade next year without an agreement, although he did not say the talks were over.
He suggested the EU was unwilling to consider seriously the UK’s preferred option of a comprehensive free trade agreement based on the bloc’s existing arrangement with Canada.
The UK, he added, must look at the “alternative” – which he suggested was Australia’s much-more limited set of agreements with the EU.
The prime minister’s official spokesman took a tougher line with Brussels later in the day.
“There is only any point in Michel Barnier coming to London next week if he’s prepared to address all the issues on the basis of a legal text in an accelerated way, without the UK required to make all the moves or to discuss the practicalities of travel and haulage,” he said.
“If not, there is no point in coming.”
He added: “Trade talks are over. The EU have effectively ended them by saying they do not want to change their negotiating position.”
The UK and EU had been hoping for a “zero-tariff” agreement to govern their trading relationship once the UK’s post-Brexit transition period ends on 31 December.
If no deal is reached, they will operate on World Trade Organization rules, meaning tariffs are imposed.
For Labour, shadow Cabinet Office minister Rachel Reeves urged the UK government to “step back from the brink” and “stop posturing”.
“Any tariffs or any delays at the border will make it harder for goods to flow freely, whether those are foods or medicines,” she said.
